talks about the loss of ret, a history professor whose loss will be felt very strongly here. >> he demanded a lot of his students, expected them to work hard, but he wanted them to love the subject. >> reporter: beth looks around, confused and sad. the man who loved her and cared for her is gone. ret was an old-fashioned southern gentleman, a well-known and much-liked figure in his penn quarter neighborhood where he and beth took a leisurely stroll several times a day. that's what they were doing this morning about 9:30 when something awful happened. without warning, a car jumped the curb, went up onto the sidewalk on 6th street northwest and struck him. the driver had some type of medical emergency. it's not clear whether it was a seizure or a heart attack. the terrible news spread quickly. and this community of condo dwellers, dog walkers and office workers came together in their grief. friend and neighbor cynthia wilson took in beth who was in

the physically injured in the accident. >> the mayor of penn quarter. he would be out on his rounds checking on things, and checking on the other residents and checking on the building. he will be sorely missed by many, many, many people. hopefully we can find someone who will care for beth. >> reporter: such was his love for his little dog, that as mr. lefrit was dying, he asked the people there trying to help him, he kept asking them, is beth okay. and of course, she is. jackie bensen, news4. >> we're going to turn now to the weather. we are seeing rain move in. the clouds came in earlier. >> veronica johnson is live with more on what's going to be a very wet weather pattern. veronica? >> that's right. at least for the next 24, maybe 30 hours or so, wdy and jim, look at the satellite and radar. the clouds that you're seeing move through the area. that's pretty much covering our entire area. areas around jefferson county,

fauquier county. scattered showers right now. as the evening unfolds, we'll see more and more rain around our area, more and more rain. in fact, some areas by tomorrow morning, that we'll be looking at moderate and even heavy rain that will be moving through. let's go ahead and advance it on through. because temperatures by tomorrow morning will not be dropping off in a big way at all. periods of rain will be around the area. we could get a good half an inch to an inch of rain by the time the system ends late tomorrow. we'll look at your forecast, and what you can expect over the next couple of details, big changes headed our way. grief counselors spent the day at dixon smith middle school in stafford, virginia, helping the classmates of a 13-year-old killed in a plane crash over the weekend. it happened saturday night in spotsylvania. police say the pilot was practicing takeoffs and landings at the shannon airport when the

single-engine plane went down, it hit a tree and fell in a mobile home park. 48-year-old john morton jr. and his 13-year-old son kyle were killed. the cause of the crash is still under investigation. prince george's county police have just released surveillance video of a strong-armed robbery outside a riverdale business. it happened friday outside a restaurant on riverdale road. three men approached the victim asking for a cigarette. one of the suspects hit him in the face and knocked him to the ground. the fall caused him to drop his wallet and cell phone which the suspects took. the victim was treated for minor injuries. there are more american deaths in afghanistan today. a taliban suicide bomber struck during a joint u.s. and afghan patrol. the u.s. troops and afghan police officers had just gotten out of their vehicles. they were walking toward a market when the bomber rammed his bike into them, detonating the explosives. three americans were killed, along with their translator, four afghan police officers, and six civilians also killed.

the bombing comes one day after the u.s. death toll in the war in afghanistan reached 2,000. a white house official tonight acknowledged that hackers tried to infiltrate the white house computer system. the official said the cyber attack was thwarted and that there was no evidence the hackers removed any data. the official also said the targeted network does not contain classified information. last year google blamed computer hackers in china for a similar effort against the g-mail accounts of several hundred people there. today officials would not say whether the white house attack was linked to china. the champagne is in the killer at nats park. tonight the nats will try to clinch the national league east title and then celebrate in front of the home crowd. erica gonzalez is at nats park with more on the scene unfolding there. hey, erica. >> reporter: hey, wendy, yes, indeed, a huge night. that's an understatement for

washington as the nats try to wrap up the nl east here at home. the gates are going to open here in just about less than 30 minutes. it's game one of three against the phillies. the home crowd can all but taste the victory. a w tonight would be the franchise's first division title in 31 years. it would be washington's first title since 1933. >> very excited. very excited. i hope this is the night we've all been waiting for. >> are you a long-standing washington yan? >> yes. >> you have been waiting i guess? >> forever. >> fantastic. unbelievable. we've got kids out here having a great time. unbelievable. >> reporter: did you think they would make it this far? >> no, didn't think it would get this far. but this is exciting for washington. it's been, what, since '72 since we had a team here, and the '30s since we had a championship. this will be awesome. >> reporter: the phillies, meanwhile, are coming off

back-to-back wins. game starts at 7:05. so cheer on the nats at home. where's your nat-itude, folks? erica gonzalez, back to you. after years of being scorned by environmentalists, a coal-fired power plant in alexandria shut down permanently today. the plant on north royal street opened in 1949. it was often criticized for being the biggest source of air pollution in virginia, maryland and d.c. concerned residents and city government worked to shut it down. they say the closure is a victory for people who live and work nearby. >> from this day on, the coal-powered fire plant you see here will stop blowing smoke and other pollutants into our air. from the city's perspective, the operation of the trgs facility has always been a public health and safety issue for the residents of alexandria.

>> the mayor says he hopes to redevelop the site into commercial and retail space. in decision 2012, election day is nearing, and more campaign signs are appearing on yards for both candidates. you may have noticed one candidate has a lot more signs out there than the other. northern virginia bureau chief jewel write carey takes a look at whether winning the sign war matters. >> reporter: it's not a very accurate way to keep score in a presidential race, but campaign yard signs definitely have their place. and get out the vote effort. in this mitt romney campaign office in arlington, keeping a well-stocked supply is one of this volunteer's duties. >> i think the number of signs we have out there shows just how much support we have from the community. and just how strong our base is right now. and i'm really optimistic looking at all the yard signs around us. >> reporter: even in democratic strong holds where you would expect to see obama signs, there are also romney signs alongside them on many blocks. while romney supporters suggest

the signs are indicative of growing support, the obama campaign takes a different view, and has a slightly different philosophy about the importance of yard signs. as they put it, signs don't vote. >> it's the people in our neighborhoods who are going to decide this election. it's not the yard signs. >> reporter: until recently, obama yard signs could be purchased online. so could romney signs. but the republican campaign office has also been handing them out free for months. this obama campaign office got its first batch of 1,500 yard signs to give away for free. the volunteers say when they hand over a sign, it's a chance for pulling in a recruit. >> we ask them if they're volunteers. and if they say, no, they haven't really done that, we say right here, here's your form. can you stay? or when can we count on you coming back? >> reporter: the romney campaign said its signs are proof of what

they say is an unprecedented gop get out the vote effort. >> the largest effort in virginia